Raise your hand if you drove at least one old Buick this weekend

[tenugent]

43 minutes ago, Edwin The Kid said:

I was lucky enough to get to drive an old Buick at the national meet! I was talking with the owner of this beautiful 63(4?) Riviera, and he very generously let me take it for a cruise around the block. Of course now I need to buy one. I'd better start saving up!

That is a very nice 63,talked to Kevin at the ROA meet in Branson.That car performs as well as it looks.

[JohnD1956]

2 hours ago, Edwin The Kid said:

I was lucky enough to get to drive an old Buick at the national meet! I was talking with the owner of this beautiful 63(4?) Riviera, and he very generously let me take it for a cruise around the block. Of course now I need to buy one. I'd better start saving up!

That was very generous of the owner!  You are a lucky guy!.  Hope you find one.

[Buicknutty]

 We finally got the '16 McLaughlin out for a cruise yesterday afternoon, just a short around our country block which was about 7 miles. We stopped to admire a couple of deer having dinner off the crops in a nearby field and my son hopped out and took this quick pic. Also, is the start mileage for this year.

 My hope and plan is to take it to a nearby cruise night soon. My criteria is these long days and totally clear weather as the top on my car is basically useless and I don't want to expose it the elements.

 

[JohnD1956]

2 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

 We finally got the '16 McLaughlin out for a cruise yesterday afternoon, just a short around our country block which was about 7 miles. We stopped to admire a couple of deer having dinner off the crops in a nearby field and my son hopped out and took this quick pic. Also, is the start mileage for this year.

 My hope and plan is to take it to a nearby cruise night soon. My criteria is these long days and totally clear weather as the top on my car is basically useless and I don't want to expose it the elements.

 

Has Graham tried to drive this one yet, Keith?

[Buicknutty]

Not yet, though he has driven the '41 a couple of times around our property. So far he's a bit intimidated by the crash box and backwards shift pattern.

We have just got insurance set up so he can drive the vintage cars on the road, on a limited basis to start with.

 

[60FlatTop]

I have been taking the western loop around town on the way home from having coffee. There is a nice town park on the way and the days have been nice only to take the '60 Electra. Getting in a mile walk through the park is getting to be a habit.

[J.H.Boland]

We drove the '25 Buick to the local cruise show tonight. Although it stuck out like a sore thumb, it didn't generate a lot of interest. Surprise. Surprise. The new Mustang beside us was popular, as well as other models nearly fresh out of the showroom. It used to be that a car had to be pre 1980 to get in. It should have stayed that way.

Oh well. It was a nice cool evening for a drive,

[EmTee]

Drove my Riviera today in a parade of classic cars organized for and driven through a senior citizen community in celebration of the upcoming July 4th holiday.  The facility includes townhouses and apartments for 55+, assisted living, all the way through skilled care living.  This was the second year for the event.  Last year eight cars participated.  This year about 25~30 cars showed up and residents lined the streets in front of their homes.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and seeing the smiles and hearing the comments as we rolled by was really neat.  I'm marking my calendar for next year...

 

[Buicknutty]

 On Tues night I decided to take the '16 to a local cruise night I go to, in Tilsonburg. I've often posted pictures from there before but this would be the first time I've driven the '16 there. The weather being totally clear with lots of daylight this time of year was an important formula.

 The started and ran great, with about 30 miles round trip. The car certainly was quite a hit! So many people crowding around it, asking questions, looking at the exposed valve train, etc.

 A gent took the picture of my son and I arriving, plus a few at the cruise too.

Keith

 

PS, in case anyone is wondering, my son took the one of us driving along the country road on the way home.

[TexRiv_63]

I took my '60 out to a local coffee meetup this morning for the first time in a long time. Great drive with all the windows down and met a number of folks I hadn't seen in years. I need to get back into doing this more often.

[dibarlaw]

Kyle Blake from Cumberland MD drove up in his 1964 BelAire sedan to visit. We took him for a 10 mile drive around Franklin Co. PA. in our 1925. No photos... Having too much fun driving!

[Buicknutty]

 Yesterday (Sat) we had a gathering of family for our daughter's 30th birthday and I took a number of them, who'd not yet seen the '16 McLaughlin for a 10 mile drive around the countryside. It was a beautiful summer's afternoon, and there were 6 of us it, the most I've ever had in the car.

 It started and ran well as usual. No pictures right now as I didn't take any personally and I'm still waiting for the others to send some to me.

 

[JohnD1956]

Ran the GS for some donuts this morning.

 

I have been stymied by an ac system that would only get to 71° before freezing up the evaporator. The advice I got was to tap the poa valve with the wooden handle go jar it and free up the internal valves. This never worked.  So I reread the section of the manual and realized it seemed to be a problem in the expansion valve more than the poa. So i got the mechanics stethoscope out and listened while I tapped on that. The sound went from a dull thud to a hollow metallic sound, and the vent temps dropped to 65°.  Then, upon further advice I hooked up a can of 134a with the line guage.  It looked like about roughly 28 lbs at idle with the system on regular ac and 2nd speed fan. 

 

So I used the can of freon and the vent temps dropped to about 59°. I  could only get a little more from another can in and the pressure raised to about 34lbs while the vent temp dropped to 52.  I stopped there.   The sight glass on the receiver looks solid to me at this point.  It just did not feel like I could get any more into the system.  I will take it to my mentor to pursue the final fill.  But the good news is the factory system seems to be alive.  

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

I had a semi once[  for 12 years. Loved that one ]  that would do the same thing.  Low pressure check point was at the compressor.  Time after time I was told that is the best it will do.  25-26 psi at compressor, 55 degrees out of evaporator.  Well, 25 psi comes out to about 28 degrees.  That just did not look, OR FEEL , right. We finally installed a fitting for the gauge at the evap outlet.  Reading was around 40 psi.   The hose from evap to comp had partially collapsed. After replacing that rascal the evap outlet was around 40 degrees.   

 

  Ben

[JohnD1956]

I took a ride to the store two miles from my home. 

As my mentor said, not Electra-freezing, but pretty good. I agree on that. May be good enough for me.  I need a hot steamy day to check it further and anticipate leaving it like it is. 

 

[NC-car-guy]

Took the centurion out today.  1st time letting the dogs ride along. 

[JohnD1956]

54 minutes ago, NC-car-guy said:

Took the centurion out today.  1st time letting the dogs ride along. 

If that had been my last dog, she would have been gone in 60 seconds!

 

[95Cardinal]

Took the Caballero out for a bit of exercise today.

 

Nice reflections on the hood.

 

I was surprised to see that I've driven it almost 600 miles since 2019.

 

[old-tank]

On 7/3/2022 at 3:40 PM, JohnD1956 said:

Ran the GS for some donuts this morning.

 

I have been stymied by an ac system that would only get to 71° before freezing up the evaporator. The advice I got was to tap the poa valve with the wooden handle go jar it and free up the internal valves. This never worked.  So I reread the section of the manual and realized it seemed to be a problem in the expansion valve more than the poa. So i got the mechanics stethoscope out and listened while I tapped on that. The sound went from a dull thud to a hollow metallic sound, and the vent temps dropped to 65°.  Then, upon further advice I hooked up a can of 134a with the line guage.  It looked like about roughly 28 lbs at idle with the system on regular ac and 2nd speed fan. 

 

So I used the can of freon and the vent temps dropped to about 59°. I  could only get a little more from another can in and the pressure raised to about 34lbs while the vent temp dropped to 52.  I stopped there.   The sight glass on the receiver looks solid to me at this point.  It just did not feel like I could get any more into the system.  I will take it to my mentor to pursue the final fill.  But the good news is the factory system seems to be alive.  

John, get a set of real gauges and always hook up the high side.  This will keep your body parts intact.  In the meantime, study, understand and apply the concept of "superheat" for the refrigerant you are using.  That may not even work if the expansion valve is not compatible with modern refrigerants.  And modern refrigerants require a more efficient condenser...either larger or replace with a parallel flow condenser. 

[avgwarhawk]

Took the 54 out for run. She has been sitting longer than I like to admit.  She is a great running Buick.   Next weekend it is time to go to a local shows.   Been to busy to attend any. 

 

[32buick67]

72mi run today, still warming up to longer runs, but the car seems to be sorted well so far.

 

Its 93F with 147F heat index, temps were good at about 160F while cruising 45-50mph (even with a short jump to 60mph to check driveline smoothness and temperature), and no vapor lock after sitting in the hot sun (I am shamefully currently using 5/16" black rubber hose between carb and pump), the engine starts on the first piston to fire, barely a fraction of a single crank rotation, amazing Buick engineering!

 

 

[Buicknutty]

Yesterday I drove the Reatta into my old neighbourhood to help them with a basic safety inspection, which for liability reasons is referred to as a "Touring Inspection". Unfortunately there is no one left in Club with the experience to do this work. So I drove the Reatta a bit over 225 miles round trip, and they generously paid me the gas money to do this. A busy evening for me, checking the usual things so I didn't have the chance to chat with many of my old friends as much as I would have liked.

 It was a beautiful evening and with a good turn out. Parked beside me for a while was a lovely Volvo 1800 ES, I believe the station wagon versions are called. Now is I wasn't such a Buick guy, I just might find space for one of these little babies.

 

[parkertom]

Took my ‘60 LeSabre sedan to a local show on the grounds of a museum. Threatened rain all day but, there was a decent turnout. 
 

Photos of my car and the other Buicks on hand.

[parkertom]

Couple more due to file size limit.

[Mark Shaw]

I just swapped the 31 Model 67 to the Buick Barn and drove the 15 Bumble Buick to my home shop.

 

[JohnD1956]

ZI was able to attend a local cars n coffee this morning. 

 

This 66 Wildcat GS was there too

 

It was a Chapter member's but was sold

 

 

[JohnD1956]

Keeping up with the red GS's

 

 

 

[Den41Buick]

I took the model 41 out for a ride to get peaches and corn. The peaches sold out before I got there. I also went over the Scituate reservoir dam. It was 90 degrees and in a black car it is much warmer. I felt like my sneakers were melting. I got home and opened the hood to cool off the engine before I put it into the garage. 
 

Last Sunday I took the other Buick to the Bay State Auto Club show in Dedham. It was a great show. Our Minutemen Buick Chapter had a good showing.

Edited July 17, 2022 by Den41Buick
spelling (see edit history)

[Buicknutty]

 I had lots of Buick fun this weekend, but you folks will have to trust me on that! We got my son's '55 Special running again and drove it around the property a bunch and it's running much better than before, though it still has a bad cylinder so it's definitely not up to par. Now it doesn't bog like it used to, but the kickdown still didn't engage.

 Then for his sake I got the '56 Roadmaster out on the road, and I'm embarrassed to say this, but this was the first time it's been out of the yard this year. So he could feel what his is missing, and on a closer look it seems as though it's pushing the rod far enough to engage it.

 However to get the '56 out I had to move the '16 McLaughlin, powered by a Buick six, so I took it for a quick toot around.

 Lastly, and this one isn't as old the others, my wife just bought a used 2018 Regal GS, with the 3.6 L engine good for 310 HP. My daughter is a motorhead too and last night we took it out for a bit of a hot lap around the lightly travelled roads in our county. With her driving it for a good stretch and in GS mode most of the time. That stiffens the suspension and a few other tweeks. Quite a hoot to drive!

 Keith

[Buicknutty]

Tonight I had the Electra out for a late afternoon drive after a bit of tuning. The previous vacuum advance had quit working, so a new one was needed. Though it's not like the other one was very old, maybe about 5 years or so.

 It was a warm afternoon to evening with temps in the low 80's. The car ran great, though I still don't think it's cooling properly, so tomorrow I'm going to install one of the high performance water pumps with TA Performance and see if it helps, especially with the big rad it now has.

The AC kept us nice and cool too!

Something like 25-30 miles though I didn't take close note of our start mileage.

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by Buicknutty (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

54 minutes ago, Buicknutty said:

Tonight I had the Electra out for a late afternoon drive after a bit of tuning. The previous vacuum advance had quit working, so a new one was needed. Though it's not like the other one was very old, maybe about 5 years or so.

 It was a warm afternoon to evening with temps in the low 80's. The car ran great, though I still don't think it's cooling properly, so tomorrow I'm going to install one of the high performance water pumps with TA Performance and see if it helps, especially with the big rad it now has.

The AC kept us nice and cool too!

Something like 25-30 miles though I didn't take close note of our start mileage.

 

That sure is a beauty Keith!  

[ted sweet]

on sunday drove my 77 electra to the the schoharie valley region of aaca show in north blenheim ny

[Brooklyn Beer]

My grandfather bought a farm near there in the 50's.  Beautiful area   Boukes (spelling)  Falls ?  From the Malvese family

[Buicknutty]

 So today some more tinkering with Electra. Specifically I changed to the high performance water pump. When I had it on the car before I didn't think it did much for me, but now with the high density four core rad it certainly helped compared to yesterday's drive. The ambient temp was similar, just a pinch warmer, 82-83 F instead of 80-82 F. We (my son rode shotgun) drove the same roads at the same speeds to start with, and the engine temp ran 10-15 degrees lower with no AC, and at about the same point I turned the AC on so we rode in the cool air, and the engine ran about 10 degrees warmer, ie just under 190, driving 55mph.

 I gassed it up then went the rest of the way the main highway to run at higher speeds for about 1o miles back to the secondary highway which leads home.

 At 70ish it ran about 200 consistently till we pulled off and then 190 or so at the 55 or so for the 20 miles back to the house.

 

 So this is much better than before, but I'm not sure it is still as good as it should be. The cooling system is super clean inside.

 Anyway, here's a quick picture of it as we paused at the side of the road.

Keith

 

[Machine Gun]

8 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

 So this is much better than before, but I'm not sure it is still as good as it should be. The cooling system is super clean inside.

 Anyway, here's a quick picture of it as we paused at the side of the road.

Keith

 

I'm glad to learn that your efforts to reduce coolant temperature provided results. I'm in the process of swapping the two-row radiator for a three-row unit in my Skylark, hoping for similar results. Mine usually runs 190 degrees at 60 mph in Summer, and has been as high as 210 degrees when sitting in traffic for extended periods on a hot Summer day when temperatures have been in the mid-80s. My cooling system is fairly clean.

 

Part of our trouble today is that we know too much, and worry even more. Back when our cars were new almost no one had a temperature gauge, or at least not one that read in degrees. If the idiot light didn't come on or the gauge didn't peg at the high end we motored along, happy and secure in our ignorant bliss.

 

I love your car, BTW. My dad had a '69 LeSabre four-door hardtop with the 350 engine. I loved driving that thing. It's one of my favorite years for Buick style-wise, right up there with the 1940, 1941, and 1960 model years.

[EmTee]

9 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

So this is much better than before, but I'm not sure it is still as good as it should be.

Have you checked the ignition timing?  Your temps don't sound out-of-line to me.  With A/C, those cars would have had 195* thermostats in them.  As long as the coolant has sufficient glycol (50/50) and holds 15 lbs. pressure it should not boil-over.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

At 15 lbs the system should be good for 247*.  One would think this temp is safe else the engineers would not have designed this system pressure?

 

  Ben

[avgwarhawk]

9 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

 So today some more tinkering with Electra. Specifically I changed to the high performance water pump. When I had it on the car before I didn't think it did much for me, but now with the high density four core rad it certainly helped compared to yesterday's drive. The ambient temp was similar, just a pinch warmer, 82-83 F instead of 80-82 F. We (my son rode shotgun) drove the same roads at the same speeds to start with, and the engine temp ran 10-15 degrees lower with no AC, and at about the same point I turned the AC on so we rode in the cool air, and the engine ran about 10 degrees warmer, ie just under 190, driving 55mph.

 I gassed it up then went the rest of the way the main highway to run at higher speeds for about 1o miles back to the secondary highway which leads home.

 At 70ish it ran about 200 consistently till we pulled off and then 190 or so at the 55 or so for the 20 miles back to the house.

 

 So this is much better than before, but I'm not sure it is still as good as it should be. The cooling system is super clean inside.

 Anyway, here's a quick picture of it as we paused at the side of the road.

Keith

 

The larger radiator is the key to your running at good temperature with or without AC.   Our new 73 Estate wagon overheated constantly. Two core radiator. Many years later as an adult I purchased a 73 Estate wagon.  Still the same issue. Two core radiator. Overheated a lot.  I dropped in a three core.  Problem solved.  Your current running temperature are good. Ensure your fan clutch is good as well. 

Edited July 23, 2022 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[avgwarhawk]

41 minutes ago, Machine Gun said:

I'm glad to learn that your efforts to reduce coolant temperature provided results. I'm in the process of swapping the two-row radiator for a three-row unit in my Skylark, hoping for similar results. Mine usually runs 190 degrees at 60 mph in Summer, and has been as high as 210 degrees when sitting in traffic for extended periods on a hot Summer day when temperatures have been in the mid-80s. My cooling system is fairly clean.

 

Part of our trouble today is that we know too much, and worry even more. Back when our cars were new almost no one had a temperature gauge, or at least not one that read in degrees. If the idiot light didn't come on or the gauge didn't peg at the high end we motored along, happy and secure in our ignorant bliss.

 

I love your car, BTW. My dad had a '69 LeSabre four-door hardtop with the 350 engine. I loved driving that thing. It's one of my favorite years for Buick style-wise, right up there with the 1940, 1941, and 1960 model years.

The three core will resolve your issue.  It resolved running hot and overheating problem with my 73 Estate wagon. 

[JohnD1956]

3 hours ago, Machine Gun said:

Part of our trouble today is that we know too much, and worry even more. Back when our cars were new almost no one had a temperature gauge, or at least not one that read in degrees. If the idiot light didn't come on or the gauge didn't peg at the high end we motored along, happy and secure in our ignorant bliss.

This is absolutely true. A good friend has had the exact same experience as you with his 67 300 cu in Skylark. Sealing the gap between the shroud and radiator greatly improved the situation on that car, but his 67 GS 400 didnt have a shroud. Only came with a fan guard. The fix on that car was a new vacuum advance unit. But i understand that the manual says the temp light comes on at 245°. If you did not have a gauge with a scale this would not be any concern.